Saturday, May 17, 2008

Am I really 90% doomed to fail?

Assuming this is true, and from what I've seen, I wouldn't doubt it. The question for those of us in the Virtual Worlds business is what will it take to be that 10% that succeeds.

Be Remarkable - The worlds that survive will be unique in some way, or the best in some way. (It's easier to be unique than best.) Dinosaur Junction is so much like Club Penguin, it's ridiculous. Not unique. Not best. I'll take 9:1 for them to fail.

It's the Community, Stupid - Yep. Fancy graphics and great games are available everywhere. What really drives an online world is the people who inhabit it. It's got to be easy and fun to hook up with real live people.

It's got to WORK - Most of the virtual worlds I've visited are still in deep, deep, beta. Whirled and Urbaniacs both have serious problems with user interface and general functionality. As other worlds from heavy hitters like Disney come on line, the rest of us have better be ready with stuff that's ready to compete. Like, now.